Draft gear



Feb. 5; 1924, mam z E. H. WALKER DRAFT GEAR Filed May 2. 1923 ag a/ Patented Feb. 5, 1924.

lAdZAdZ U N'IT'E'D S TAT E S .:P A T E N T QFFKQE;

EDMUND H. WALKERyDF NEW YORK, N. Y.

is DRAFT GEAR.

Application filed May 2,

To-all whom it mag concern:

Be it know-n that I, EDMUND WALKER, a citizen of the Uni-ted .States, residing at New York; in thecounty of :New York and State of New York, have invented certain.

new and useful Improvements in" Draft Gears; of which the following is a specificae ti0n;.

My invention relates to friction draft gear and, particulariy stated, involves *the roduction of a strong, durable and e'fiiclent spring barrel which can be economically manufactured.

One of the principal features of the-invention is to produce a spring gbarrel in'which means is provided "for preventing the incor rect assembly of the associated parts and-es: pecially the 'fI'lCtlOIlllGttCl or'box, said means involving a projection disposed-externally of the barrel adjacent one end thereof.

Aonther object of the invention is-t'o provide a'spring barrel with projections, which projections in addition to serving the aforesaid purpose of preventing incorrect assem bly,'also act as guidemea-nsin centering the gear between the carsills.

A still further object of the invention is to cast "a springbarrel with integral means arrangedto prevent the assembly of the friction-box except upon but one end of the barrel, the provision of this means contributing to a material reduction in the costof manufacture of the barrel in-thatbut one end of the casting is required to be facedoif or finished tovre'ceive said {friction boa.

The invention further consists in the ar rangement and. combination of the parts hereinafter described.

I-n-the-drawings illustrating two embodiments of=my inventiom-the scope whereof'is pointed out in-the claims:

Figure-"l is a. plan view illustratingi an embodiment of 'my invention associated with friction =shock absorbing devices includedwithi-n a railway draft 1 rigging: of the Fardowtype.

Figure 2 improved spring barrel in associated rela: tion-to a railway draft rigging includingia vertical. yoke, front and rear followers, and reacting front and rearstop members.-

Figure 3. is a detail end- VIGW'Dfthe'barrel employed in the-construction shown in-zFigure 1. i 1 v 1 Figured isa detachedwiewdn vertical to receive the front rear key 5 extends the usual construction and is a isimilar viewn'showing my of the opposite ends 1923. Serial No; 636,057.

shownin Figure 1 a railway draft rigging iincluding center sills or draft sills 1,.each

of said sills being provided with a cheek plate2, said sills and cheek piates beingsuitably slotted to permit the relative movement of the keys in the usual. manner. Positioned between the sillsis thehorizontal yoke 3,-the forward ends of the zyokearms being slotted key (notshown) which connects-the coupler 4 with saidyoke and extendsinto the alined slotsin thersills and cheek plates, as will be understood. The through the second series of slots in the sills andicheek plates, said second named. key alsopassing through slots providedin theyoke arms and the follower block 6 interposed between. the butt ofthe coupler and the friction-device. A rear-stop member .or-backstop 7 is provided with which the rear of theyoke contacts.

The friction deviceshown is of the Sesbox .8 having containedtherein a plurality of friction elements indicated generally by the numeral 9. 'The friction head may be of is provided with rearwardly extending projections 10 adapted to engage the forward end of-my improved barrel 11 vwith'which the friction head contacts and in-which isycontained-the cushioning device of 1 the car.-

The sprlngbarrel orcasingll=used in the Farlowarrangement of draft geanis show-n detached in Figures 3 and 4, and comprises a plurality of side wall portions disposed to form, an octagonally shaped barrel in transverse;section-. Thebarrel may be of other shapes and is open atboth ends to provide .a sleeve-l1kestructure; the,cross sectional area and arrangement of the ,walls being substantially uniform throughout its length. It is this simplicity nd. attending. similarity offthe barrel which. necessitates the provision of means designed to insure the correct assembly of the barrel with the other parts of the friction gear.

Some of the side wall portions-of the barrel are preferably increased in thickness or tagonally shaped cross sectional area, said portions being shown herein as thetop and bottom walls of the casing when in its position within the draft rigging. The diagonal side wall portions adjacent said respective top" and bot tom wall portions are cross sectional area, as shown, and the opposite vertically arranged side wallportions of the barrel are Jreferably formed of even less cross sectiona area than-said. diagonal side wall portions. The relative disposition of the metal in the side wall portions pro vides an effective column area, of great strength at points subjected to the greatest strains.

The barrel provided at the rear end thereof with projections 12, said projections being formed integral at the top and bottom side wall portionsof the barrel and being spaced from the extreme rear end thereof. These projections or lugs are arranged upon the outside of the barrel and are disposed so as to intercept any attempted application of the friction box or head to this end 'of the barrel. 1 have shown a single lug upon the top and bottom wall portions, the same being preferably centrally located and of a height sufficient to arrest the attempted fitting of the friction head upon this end of the barrel. In the Farlow arrangement of draft rigging the lugs may be formed relatively small and are disposed vertically between the center sills. The lugs are also preferably set back from the extreme ends of the barrel so as to permit the barrel or adjacent draft rigging part to rock or angle without imparting to "the lugs the strains incident to such movements.

In Figure 2 'anotherembodiment and arrangement of my invention is illustrated. The barrel 11 is formed of sidewall pertions similarly disposed to'those shown in Figure 3 and adapted to produce the occasing shown in Figure 5. The barrel is associated with a friction head or box 13, the friction elements being indi cated by the numeral 14:. Projecting portions 15 extend from the friction head and embrace the side wall portions of the barrel,

as shown. j

The draft rigging in which this second embodiment of my invention .is incorporated v includes the draft sills or center sills 1- 1 to between the which are connected front stop members 16' and rear stop member 17 A yoke 18 of the vertical type is arranged between the car sills and is adaptedto be connected to the i an. approved manner. Interposed front and unfinished end of the barrel casting and the front stop member 16, is the 'front follower block 19. The rear follower block 20 is arranged between the friction elements 14 and the'rear stop memcoupler in bers and rear end of the yoke.

In the form of draft rigging shown in sills and maintain the'barrel and associated formed of slightly lesscushioning nism centrally of the sills.

Figure 2, the barrel is provided with projecting members 21 formed of a size which will permit them to act as guide members capable of contacting the inner faces of the 10 mechanism in central position between said sills. By comparison with the F'arlow arrangement, of draft rigging and spring barrel, the barrel shown in Figures 2 and 5 is disposed horizontally with the extensions or lugs 21 projecting. laterally toward thesills and spaced therefromwith sufiicient clearance to permit the proper functioning of the shock absorbing mecha.-:. nism under service conditions. The projections21 are formed integral with the thickened side wall portions of thebarrel, said thickened portions serving to provide a maximum column area adjacent to and paralleling the sills. "As shown in Figure 2, the projections 21 overlie the front and rear stop members, but are sufficiently set back from the extreme front end of the barrel to prevent rocking or anglingmovement of I either the barrel or front follower contact ing and injuring the lugs. The projections. 21 are formed of a size sufficiently large to permitthem to perform the functions of guiding and maintaining the cushioning mecha- A cast steel spring barrel constructed in accordance with my present invention can be interchangeably used in different arr ngements of draft rigging and at the same time maintain the relative strength value 100 throughout the column area of the barrel, the provision of means externally of the barrel for accomplishing the purposes set forth contributing to an economic manu- 1 facture thereof and a substantial saving-1 06 over the improper assembly of theparts as heretofore experienced. 1 I Iclaim: 1 .1

1. A spring barrel for friction draft gear havlng opposlte open end portions of substantially similar contour, and means arranged externally of said barrel adjacent one end thereof for preventing the incorrect assembly of the friction head thereto.

2. A spring barrel for frictiondraft gear HI having opposite open ends, and means and jacent at least one of said ends and extending from the outer surface ofjthe barrel for intercepting the application of a friction 'box to said end but permitting its attach- 1S0 ment. to the other end of said barrel.

3. A spring barrel for friction draft gear having opposite open end portions of substantially similar contour. and a projection arranged to extend. beyond the outer surface I! of the barrel, said'proj'ection being located relatively close to'onend face of the barrel and adapted to prevent the application of a friction box to said end but permitting'its application to the other end of said barrel. "0

4:. A cast steel spring barrel for friction draft gear involving a plurality of Wall sections integrally united to form a sleeve-like structure having opposite open ends, and a member formed integrally with at least one of said Wall sections for preventing the assembly of a friction head to one end of the sleeve but permitting its attachment to the other end thereof.

5. A cast steel spring barrel for friction draft gear comprising a series of variously thickened Wall portions forming varying cross sectional column areas throughout the length of the barrel, and means formed integrally with the thicker part of said Wall portions and adapted to extend beyond the outer surface of the barrel, said means acting to prevent the incorrect assembly of a friction head to one end of the barrel but permitting its application to the opposite end of said barrel.

6. A spring barrel for friction draft having opposite open end portions, and means carried by said barrel and projecting beyond the outer surface upon opposite sides of the barrel, said means acting to guide and maintain the barrel centrally of the car sills and also acting to prevent the incorrect assembly of the friction head to one end of the barrel ibut permitting its application to the opposite end thereof.

A cast steel spring barrel for friction draft gear comprising a series of variously thickened Wall portions forming varying cross sectional column areas throughout the length of the barrel, and projections formed integrally with the thicker part of opposite Wall portions, said projections forming a gear guiding means for the barrel when in the draft rigging assembly and also acting to prevent the application of a friction box to one end of the barrel but permitting its application to the opposite end thereof.

8. In a draft rigging, the combination with center sills, of a coupler and yoke, a shock absorbing mechanism involving a friction device and spring barrel, and means carried by said barrel and projecting be yond the outer surface upon opposite sides of the barrel, said means being adapted to guide and maintain the cushioning mechanism centrally of the sills and also being located adjacent one end of the barrel for preventing incorrect assembly of the associated parts of said shock absorbing mechanism.

9. In a draft rigging, the combination with center sills, of a coupler and yoke front and rear stop members connected to each of said sills, a shock absorbing mechanism involving a friction device and barrel, said barrel having relatively thickened portions extending throughout the length thereof and adjacent the center sills, and means formed integral With said barrel and projecting from said thickened portions, said means being adapted to overlie the stop members for guiding the cushioning mechanism and also being located on said barrel to prevent the incorrect assembly of a friction box upon one end of the barrel but permitting its application to the other end thereof.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

EDMUND H. WALKER. 

